Electronic analogue-to-digital converter



Jan. 20,

M. L. KUDER 2,870,436

ELECTRONIC ANALOGUE-TO-DIGITAL' CONVERTER Original Filed Jan. 9, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 REGULATED PULSE souece E INTEGRflTO/Z 6 A5 REGULATED PULSE SOUECE CATHODE FOLLOWEE DUMP GIGNAL. OUTPUT INVENT OR M z'lzon L. Kuder B M if. 1

AGENT ELECTRONIC ANALOGUE-TO-DIGITAL CONVERTER Miiton L. Kinder, Washington, D. C., assignor to the United States of America as represented by the Secretary of Commerce Uriginai application January 9, 1953, Seriai No. 339,599, now Patent No. 2,761,968, dated September 4, 1956. Divided and this application December 15, 1955, Serial No. 553,399

7 Claims. (Ci. ii-347) The present invention relates to an electronic conversion system and in particular to a system which converts an analogue parameter into magnitude-related digits. This application is a division of applicants copending application Serial No. 330,599 filed on January 9, 1953, now U. S. Patent No. 2,761,968 granted on September 4, i956.

In certain applications, electronic digital indicating systems offer important advantages over more conventional analogue indicatorsthose in which a pointer moves over a continuous scale, or in which the indication otherwise varies continuously with the measured quantity. in moving-pointer meters, speed of response is usually limited by mechanical characteristics of the meter, and the accuracy to which the meter can be read-about 0.5 percent in precision analogue meters-is limited by a number of factors. Also the increasing importance of digital computers in contrast with analogue computers has clearly focused attention on the fact that indicating and recording instruments are almost exclusively of the analogue type, thereby making the indicating and computing instruments incompatible.

Another field in which digital systems have distinct advantages is the telemetering field. The usual practice is to convert the information under investigation into electrical voltage levels and then send this information to a central control point. The disadvantage in this system is that random noise may produce variations in the voltage levels transmitted, thereby producing erroneous information at the other end of the system. In order to eliminate this difficulty it is proposed that the information be transmitted in the form of voltage pulses, the number of pulses transmitted being indicative of the voltage level which represents the information desired.

The primary object of the invention is to provide an electronic instrument which accurately converts an analogue parameter into magnitude-related digits.

Another object of the invention is to provide an analogue-to-digital converter which samples the unknown parameter at least 100 times a second.

Another object of the invention is to provide an analogue-to-digital converter employing novel integrator and balance-detecting means.

Another object of the invention is to provide an integrator for producing a stair-step voltage in which each increment of voltage is maintained constant over a very wide range.

Another object of the invention is to provide a first feedback circuit in the integrator to insure that the system will follow a linear function over a wide range.

Another object of the invention is to provide a second feedback circuit in the integrator in order to correct certain effects not corrected by the first feedback circuit.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a balance detector which will determine to a high order of accuracy when the analogue voltage and the output of the integrator are equal.

Another object of the invention is to provide a balance States Patent Q ice detector which presents va very high effective input impedance to the analogue voltage source.

Another object of the invention is to provide a balance detector which draws very little current from the source of analogue voltage.

Other uses and advantages of the invention will become apparent upon reference to the specification and drawings.

Figure 1 is a circuit diagram of an electronic metering system.

Figure 2 is a simplified circuit diagram of the integrator showing the first feedback path.

Figure 3 is a complete circuit diagram of the integrator showing the first and second feedback paths.

Figure 4 is a circuit diagram of the balance detector.

In Figure 1 there is shown a programming oscillator 1, the first output of which feeds the electronic switch 2 and the second output of which feeds the blanking generator 3 and reset generator 4. The output of the electronic switch is connected to the input of the master oscillator 5, the first output of which is connected to the integrator 6 and the second output of which is connected to the decade counter 7. The output of the integrator 6 is fed to a first input of the balance detector 8, the second input of which is connected to the analogue quantity to be measured. The output of the balance detector is connected to the second input of the electronic switch. The decade counter 7 is connected to a second decade counter 9 which is connected to a third decade counter 11. The outputs of decade counters 7, 9, and 11 are connected to the units indicator i2, tens indicator 13 and hundreds indicator 34, respectively. The output of the blanking generator 3 is connected to the indicators 12, 13, and 14, and the output of the reset generator 4 is connected to the decade counters 7, 9, and 11.

The programming oscillator 1 puts out a square wave, the positive half of which causes the blanking generator to send out a pulse to the indicators 12, 13, and 14 to prevent them from registering during a count. The same pulse causes the reset generator 4 to reset the decade counters 7, 9, and 11 to zero count. The other output of the programming oscillator 1 causes the electronic switch to turn on the master oscillator 5. Sulficient time delay must be provided so that the master oscillator is not started until the indicators have been blanked and the counters have been reset to zero. The first output of the master oscillator 5 is fed to the integrator 6, each puise of the oscillator causing the output of the integrator to be increased by a single voltage increment of a precisely determined value. For each pulse sent by the master oscillator to the integrator 6, there is a corresponding pulse sent to the decade counter 7, which therefore counts the number of pulses sent to the integrator. When the decade counter 7 has counted to 10, it sends a pulse to the decade counter 9, which in turn sends a pulse to decade counter 11 when it has made a count of 10. Therefore the decade counter 7 is a units counter, decade counter 9 is a tens counter, and decade counter 11 is a hundreds counter. If necessary, more counters can be added to increase the count over the 999 available in the system described. Each time the decade counter 7 receives a pulse from the master oscillator, it puts out a pulse to the unit indicator, causing it to increase its count by one. The tens indicator 13 and the hundreds indicator 14 receive pulses in the same manner from the decade counters 9 and 11, respectively. Therefore when the master oscillator has been stopped in the manner to be explained later, and the indicators are unblanked, they will indicate the number of pulses put out by the master oscillator during the integrating interval.

The output of the integrator 6 is increased by a predetermined value each time the integrator receives a pulse 3 from the master oscillator. The incremental voltage increase at the output of the integrator is controllable. The specific increment employed depends upon the range of voltages'to be measured and the degree of accuracy required.

When the voltage level of the output of the integrator is equal to the voltage level of the unknown voltage E the balance detector sends a pulse to the electronic switch, causing the switch to send a pulse to the master oscillator, preventing it from operating further. Since the decade counters have counted the number of pulses necessary to produce an integrator output which is exactly equal to the unknown voltage, and since the increase in the output of the integrator for we]; pulse from the master oscillator is known, it is a simple matter to convert reading on the indicators 12, 13, and 14 to the volta e E The frequency of the programmingoscillator must be such that the master oscillator may complete its maximum number of oscillations before the programming oscillator has completed a half cycle. That is, the master oscillator must be able to complete 999 cycles, the maximum count possible with the number of decade counters shown, before the programming oscillator sends a control pulse to the blanking and reset generators. The negative output from the programming oscillator has no effect upon the electronic switch or the reset mechanism, but it causes the blanking generator to produce an output which unblanks the indicators 32, i3, and 14 and allows them to be read or to produce a permanent record, depending upon the type of indicators used. At the beginning of the next cycle of the programming oscillator, the indicators are again blanked and the reset generator 4 sends out a pulse which resets the decade counters, which in turn reset the indicators.

The equipment may all be at one location or the decade counters and indicators may be located at some distance from the rest of the unit. In the latter case contact between the two locations may be established by wire or radio.

As previously pointed out, the integrator 6 is the element which governs the overall accuracy of the system. This unit must put out a precise increase in voltage for each pulse received from the master oscillator. In order to accomplish this result the analogue integrator operates on the basis of a constant coulomb capacitor counter. The method of counting is essentially accomplished by transferring a fixed charge of electricity into a large capacitor from a small capacitor which has previously received a unit charge. In order that the system may follow a linear function over a wide range, it is necessary that the unit charge transfer from the smaller capacitor to the larger capacitor shall be accomplished by a complete transfer of the charge at each increment. Moreover, the unit charges placed into the smaller capacitor must be maintained constant for each increment over the entire range.

These results are obtained in general by the simplified circuit of the integrator shown in Figure 2. In this figure a regulated pulse source 16 puts out a precisely determined pulse amplitude each time it receives an output from the master oscillator over the wire 15. The pulse is fed to a series circuit consisting of the small capacitor 17, diode 1%, and a large capacitor 19. Although the amplitude of the pulses must be precisely determined, the pulse width need not be because the values of capacitors l7 and 19 are chosen so as to present a low impedance circuit to the output and therefore the capacitors become. almost completely charged long before the pulse is completed. The input to a cathode follower circuit is connected between the diode 18 and capacitor 19, and the output of the cathode follower is fed back to the junction of capacitor 17 and diode 18 through the diode 21. The output is taken between the diode 18 and capacitor 19. Each voltage pulse put out by the analysis of the operation of the system.

aeraese regulated source 16 is divided between capacitors 17 and 19 according to the formula where E; is the amplitude of the pulse put out by the source 16. It will be apparent that capacitor 17 is repetitively charged and discharged by the regulated pulse source 16 in a manner such that the unit charge in 17 is transferred into the larger capacitor 19 through transfer diode 18. During each negative transition of the regulated pulse source the potential across the capacitor 17 is restored by the feedback cathode follower and the diode 21 to the potential which has just previously been accrued on the capacitor 19. This feedback results in the capacitor 17 passing through the same change of charge for each pulse from the regulated pulse source. If the capacitor 17 passes through the same change of charge in each positive transaction from the pulse source, then the same number of coulombs will be transferred into capacitor 19 upon each pulse or increment. This results in a linear summation of the constant voltage The manner in which this constant coulomb charge on the capacitor 17 is obtained can be demonstrated by The diode is is inserted in series with the capacitors l7 and l5 s pulse source and thereby prevents discharge of the capac tor 19 during this period. When a positive pulse applied to the input of this circuit the plate of the dio e is driven positive with respect to the cathode and the charge supplied by the pulse source divides betwee toe capacitors ll7 and 19. Assuming that a lGS-volt so is applied and that the capacitor 18 is 99 times larger than capacitor 37, then one volt will appear acr capacitor 19. The right-hand plate of capacitor 17 will be at a one-volt level owing the accrued potential across the capacitor 19. If no feedback were provided, during the negative excursion of the pulse from the source 16, the capacitor 17 would stay fully charged, and the righthand plate of the capacitor would be at 99 volts whe. the left-hand plate was returned to zero v0 As a result no current would be passed by this circuit during the next pulse, since there would be a back voltage of 100 volts across the diode 18. In order to eliminate this effect the right-hand plate of the capacitor it? is restored during each negative excursion of pulse 16 to the same potential as the upper plate of the capacitor 19 by means of the feedback path consisting of the cathode follower 20 and diode 21. During the negative transition of the pulse, the cathode of diode 21 becomes slightly negative with respect to its plate and allows conduction through this feedback path. As a result the cathode and plate of the diode 18 will be at the same potential after this restoration and there will be no back voltage across the diode 18 prior to the application of the next positive pulse. This arrangement causes the IOU-volt pulse source always to drive the capacitor 1'7 through the same change of charge, and since the value of the capacitor 17 remains constant,-it will always accrue the same coulomb charge. Therefore the feedback path allows this system to operate on a constant-coulomb-capacitor counter basis.

Since the cathode follower 20, shown in Figure 2, does not provide unity gain, it follows that the plate and cathode of the diode 18 would not be restored to exactly the same potential. This difiiculty is'taken care of by a second feedbackpath as shown in the circuit of Figure 3. In this circuit the components which correspond to the components in Figure 2 carry the same reference numerals. The junction of the diode l8 and capacitor 19 is connected to the grid 22 of the cathode follower 29. The output of the cathode follower is connected through capacitor 23 to the plate of the diode 21 to establish the first feedback path identified in connection with Fig. 2. In order to restore repetitively the initial charge on the capacitor 23 between each complete cycle of pulse integration, another diode 24 is connected from the junction of capacitor 23 and diode 21 to ground, the plate being grounded. The diode 24 restores the potential on the output end of capacitor 23 to zero voltage at the completion of each cycle of integration. This diode is shunted by resistor 26. The capacitor 19 is shunted by the triode 27 which receives the dump signal to discharge the capacitor 19 after a count has been completed. A portion of the cathode follower output which is determined by the relative values of resistors 28 and 3% is fed back to the pulse source it? over the lead 29 which defines a second feedback path. The output of the system is taken between diodes 2i. and 24. It was found necessary to insert the capacitor 23 in the first feedback path to compensate for the difference of potential between the grid and cathode of the cathode follower. That is, since all cathode followers have some stagger in the voltage between the grid control and cathode output it is necessary to subtract such difference by A. C. coupling through the capacitor 23. The introduction of capacitor 23 also causes some degeneration in the system, since on the negative transition of the pulse source 16, the capacitors 23 and 17 and diode 21 constitute the same type of circuit as capacitors l7 and i9 and diode 18. By properly choosing the values of the capacitors 17, 19, and 23, this effect can be maintained at a very low value. That is, if the capacitor 23, is, for instance, 99 times larger than capacitor 119, then for each one volt positive accrual on capacitor 1), there will be a 0.01 volt negative accrual in capacitor 23. This degeneration would introduce a nonlinearity of only one percent. However, this nonlinearity and the nonlinearity introduced by the fact that the cathode follower falls 2. little short of providing an ideal unity gain can be corrected by the use of the second feedback path. If the degenerative signal voltage which accrues in the capacitor 23 is equal to one percent of the output voltage and the degenerative gain characteristics of the cathode follower introduce another two percent error in the system, values of resistors 28 and 30 are so chosen that a voltage equal to 3 percent of the voltage output is fed back to and in series with the prime voltage reference source. This feedback voltage increases the output of the source by the total degenerative percentage.

In other words, assuming an initial voltage pulse output of 100 volts, and therefore a one-volt accrual across the capacitor 19, approximately 0.03 volt will be fed back to the regulated source and the next pulse from that source will be equal to 100.03 volts rather than 100 volts. Therefore, the degenerative errors will be corrected during the next and succeeding pulses.

At the end of a count a dump signal is sent to the triode 27 from the electronic switch and the capacitor 19 is discharged through the triode. This returns the oathode of the cathode follower to its initial minimum potential, and the capacitor 231 is returned to its initial charge by discharging the small negative voltage accumulated on its left plate through the diode 24 to ground. At the same time the capacitor 17 is discharged through the diode l8 and triode 27, thereby restoring the system to its starting condition. The resistor 26 stops drift during static times; that is, this resistor in conjunction with diode 24 prevents the capacitor 23 from accruing a charge during static periods.

The output of the integrator 6 (Fig. 1) is fed to the balance detector 8 where the integrated voltage 215;; from the integrator is compared with the analogue voltage Referring to Fig. 4, the voltage 2E is applied across capacitor 31 in series with the capacitor 32 across which is applied an analogue voltage E These capacitors are connected in series with the primary 33 of the transformer 34, which is shunted by capacitor 35, and with the full-wave rectifier 36. The primary 33 and capacitor 35 and secondary 37 and capacitor are tuned to the second harmonic of the frequency of the voltage from the source 40. The rectifier circuit 36 consists of the secondary 37a of transformer 38 in series with the diodes 39 and 41, which have their cathodes connected together. The junction of these two cathodes is connected to the primary 33 of transformer 34. The R. F. source 4% is coupled into the circuit through the transformer 38. The voltage E is applied to the circuit so that a positive voltage appears at the right side of the capacitor 32. The voltage EE is applied so as to buck this voltage; that is, the positive side of the capacitor 31 is on the left side. initially the voltage E is larger than EE and therefore the voltage appearing at the cathodes of the diodes 39 and 41 is positive with respect to the voltage appearing at the plates of these diodes. As a result there can be no conduction through the diodes and the R. F. voltage coupled in the rectifier circuit is blocked. The full-wave rectifier circuit 36 can be considered, for purposes of explanation, as a gating device which normally isolates R. P. source 40 from the tuned circuit 34, 35, 45. As long as the analogue voltage E is larger than the EE voltage, the resulting difference voltage biases the diodes 39 and 41 of rectifier 36 to cut-off and the rectifier will not conduct signals from R. P. source 40. The ZE voltage has a stepped waveform and the peak voltage generated by the R. F. source 40 is slightly less than an increment of the step-voltages EE When the cumulative amplitudes of the BE, step-voltages are within a fraction of one such increment or less, the combination of such voltage amplitudes with the voltage amplitude generated by R. F. source 40 will render the diodes 39 and 41 conductive and detector 36 will therefore be energized to establish an operative connection between source 40 and the tuned circuit comprising transformer 34.

The full-wave rectifier 36 also inherently serves as a second harmonic generator with respect to the signals from R. F. source 40 and since the circuit comprising transformer 34 is tuned to such second harmonic, it will be apparent that under the stated conditions of operation in which EE approximately equals E a second harmonic signal will be fed to the I. F. amplifier 42. After amplification the signal is fed to the second detector 43 where it is converted to a DC. voltage and differentiated so as to produce a stop pulse signal which is sent to the electronic switch 2.

It is apparent that the only time current can flow from the source of unknown voltage E is at the one instant before shutoff when the voltages 233 and E are equal, for immediately subsequent to the action of the stop pulse produced by the second detector, BE is returned to zero by the dump signal. Therefore the effective impedance of this circuit to E is very high and presents a negligible drain upon this source. Another important advantage of this system stems from the use of the two diodes to chop the difference of 2E; and E at a frequency that is the second harmonic of the oscillator frequency. If the two diodes do not have matched capacitances, which is usually the case, a voltage, which is in no way related to the relative values of 213 and E appears across the winding 33. However, since this circuit is tuned to the second harmonic of the frequency of source 40 this fundamental voltage has no effect. Also it will be seen that the input signals may be chopped at any frequency desired merely by changing the oscillator frequency and the resonant frequency of the tuned circuits.

It will be apparent that the embodiments shown are only exemplary and that various modifications can be made in construction and arrangement within the scope of my invention as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for converting an analogue parameter into magnitude-related digits, comprising first means for producing a series of voltage pulses, second means for producing a voltage which is proportional to the number of voltage pulses supplied from said first means, third means. for comparing the voitage produced by said sec 4 0nd means and the analogue parameter, said third means being operable to stop the operation of said first means when said voltages are equal, and means for determining the number of pulses put out by said first means.

2. An apparatus for converting an analogue voltage into magnitude-related digits comprising first means for producing a series of voltage pulses, second means for initiating operation of said first means, third means for producing a voltage which is proportional to the number of voltage pulses supplied by said first means, fourth means for comparing the voltage produced by said third means and the analogue voltage,'said fourth means being operable to terminate the operation of said first means when the voltages are equal, and means for counting the number of pulses produced by said first means between initiation and termination.

3. An apparatus for converting an analogue voltage into magnitude-related digits, comprising first oscillator means for producing a series of voltage pulses, second oscillator means, switching means responsive to said second oscillator means for initiating operation of said first oscillator means, integrator means for producing a precisely determined voltage which is proportional to the number of voltage pulses supplied by said first oscillator means, detector means for comparing the output of said integrator means with the analogue voltage, said detector means being operable to put out a voltage pulse when said voltages are equal, said switching means being responsive to said last-mentioned voltage pulse to terminate the operation of said first oscillator means, and means for counting the number of pulses produced by said first oscillator means between initiation and termination. 2

4. An apparatus for converting an analogue voltage into magnitude-related digits, comprising first oscillator means, second oscillator means, switching means responsive to said second oscillator means to initiate operation of said first oscillator means, a pulse source responsive to said first oscillator means for producing a series of precisely determined pulses, integrator means for producing a voltage which is proportional to the number of pulses supplied by said pulse source, detector means for comparing the output of said integrator means with th analogue voltage, said detector means being operable to put out a voltage pulse when said voltages are equal, said switching means being responsive to said last-mentioned voltage pulse to terminate the operation of said cuit being connected across said pulse source, and first feedback means connected from the junction of said second capacitor and said diode to the junction of said first capacitor and said diode for maintaining an equal and opposite charge on said capacitors.

6. The invention according to claim 5 in which said integrator has a second feedback means, said second feedback means being connected to said first feedback means and to said pulse source so as to add a portion of the voltage developed in said first feedback means in series with said pulse source.

7. The invention according to claim 6 in which said detector means comprises first means for producing a signal which is the difierence between said analogue voltage and the voltage output of said integrator means, secnd means to provide a voltage at a predetermined frequency, means connected to said first and said second means for producing a voltage output at twice the frequency of said last-mentioned voltage when said signal is reduced to substantially zero, and means responsive to said voltage output for producing a voltage pulse.

References (Iited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,653,236 Phelan Sept. 22, 1953 2,700,102 Woodward Jan. 18,1955 2,700,750 Dickinson Jan. 25, 1955 2,717,994 Dickinson et al. Sept. 13, 1955 2,739,234 Houghton Mar. 20, 1956 

